Norwich council puts off decision on NCDC funding

The Norwich Community Development Corp. will have to prove to city leaders that it deserves $350,000 worth of funding over the next five years, but the group is able to move forward with plans to shift downtown revitalization bond money from one program to another.

The Norwich Community Development Corp. will have to prove to city leaders that it deserves $350,000 worth of funding over the next five years, but the group is able to move forward with plans to shift downtown revitalization bond money from one program to another.

Such were the rulings by the City Council on Monday following a tense discussion over the 2013-14 budget in which aldermen said “everything is on the table” as they look for ways to reduce a 5.16 percent tax hike proposed by City Manager Alan Bergren.

If the council doesn’t act before the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, a five-year agreement between the city and NCDC that provides the economic development arm with $50,000 annually over that time will lapse, Mayor Peter Nystrom said.

Alderman Charlie Jaskiewicz, a Democrat who is running for mayor, said he wants to see “measurable outcomes and objectives” to justify NCDC’s request.

A resolution to extend the annual funding agreement with NCDC through 2018 says the $50,000 per year would aid the organization’s “core work of economic development services to provide the city with full-time, professional assistance.”

“I would like to see a little bit more within this resolution,” Jaskiewicz said.

The council voted 4-3 in favor of tabling the measure, instead asking NCDC to attend Monday’s final public hearing on the budget to explain the need for long-term city help.

“I don’t understand our constant willingness to send money out to agencies where you have very little control or say once it leaves,” Shiela Hayes said. “Why not give $350,000 to a department under the control of the city manager?”

The council was more sympathetic with NCDC’s request to redirect $500,000 from its targeted properties revolving loan fund into a commercial rental subsidy program that has been far more popular, according to the agency.

The money is part of a $3.38 million downtown revitalization bond approved in November 2010 that initially set aside $500,000 for the subsidy and $1.04 million for the revolving loan. Another $1.84 million is available for code correction assistance.

“The lease rebate program was the smallest of the three, and it’s one that has been tapped the hardest,” NCDC President Bob Mills said. “We felt like there was enough money in the marketplace for the loan program that focusing on the immediate impacts was more important. This is going to be good money for the community.”

To date, $486,900 of the original allocation has been committed to four businesses: 3D Dance Studio and Chacers on Franklin Street, Harp & Dragon and Northeast Illuminating.

Page 2 of 2 - Mills said those investments cover between 18 and 20 percent of the companies’ leases on new developments.

Resident Andy Depta, who voted in favor of the overall bond package, questioned the decision to move the money from one program to another.

“When we approved that money, it was backed up by an NCDC plan for the allocation of those dollars,” he said.